Norwich v Manchester City Match Preview
By David Crook
Manchester City face Norwich in the Premier League on Saturday in the tea time kick off.
Thankfully Manchester City would appear to have come through largely unscathed from the two week International break and have a side bolstered by some key players returning from injury. Yet what we know is Guardiola is likely to take the Norwich side seriously and field his best available combination of players for this game.
Currently Norwich sit second bottom in the table after just 4 league games but have nevertheless been one of the surprise packages so far in the League. Committed to playing an incisive attacking style with marauding full backs, they have been supplemented with the good form of their striker, Pukki.
If anything, the fixture computer has treated them somewhat unfairly, dealing them out with 4 games against probable top six sides in their first 5 games. If Norwich were able to take a point against City it would be considered a good return from their run of matches.
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Their slightly cavalier approach has gained them promotion and also meant that even in the games they have lost, they have still worried the opposition. Which brings us back to the comments made by Guardiola after the comprehensive City win over Brighton – sometimes the manner of the defeat is important. It is about giving it your best shot.
With that in mind it is hoped Daniel Farke, the manager of Norwich City, sticks by his principles and decides to play attacking football against City. Sure, the risks are high but taking the game to us may be the best chance of taking some points. Although, it should be said that many of the Norwich fans writing on the various fan forums seem to be urging their manager to take a more pragmatic approach!
Guardiola will have studied the opposition and will be hoping the curse of Player of the Month strikes and Pukki simply does not have a chance to score because he has been pretty accurate with his chances so far this season. What we know as City fans is that although City will seek to dominate possession there will be chances for Norwich in this game so it will be important to take all of our chances.
The game against Shaktar on Wednesday evening will also be on Guardiola’s mind and their may be a temptation to rest players to try and get the Champions League campaign off to a flying start. I don’t think Guardiola will succumb to that temptation and instead he will be focussed on playing his best XI.
Therefore I expect we will see Ederson in goal, with Walker at right back and Zinchenko at left back. I think Guardiola will select Fernandinho and Otamendi in central defence, with Rodri sitting just in front. De Bruyne and Gundogan in midfield. The front three will be Aguero with Sterling and Mahrez on either flank.
It is important that City get back to winning ways after the break and as they start a busy period of 7 games in a little over 3 weeks, momentum will be key. Maintaining a winning streak in the fixtures we have coming up may prove pivotal in our ambition to be champions again.
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Predicted Starting XI
Ederson
Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Zinchenko
Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan
Sterling, Aguero, Mahrez